Solar plane aiming for stratosphere makes test flight

Test pilot Damian Hischier and Raphael Domjan. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

The first solar plane aimed at reaching the stratosphere made an initial low-altitude test flight over Switzerland on Friday.
The SolarStratos, a super-light, sleek, white two-seater aircraft with long wings covered with solar panels, took off from Payerne at 8am, according to an AFP photographer at the airbase in western Switzerland.

"The maiden flight of the prototype ... went off without a hitch," the SolarStratos team said in a statement.

Pilot Damian Hischier took the craft for a seven-minute test flight, reaching an altitude of 300 metres (nearly 1,000 feet), it said.

"The group will now study the test flight results before scheduling a longer flight at higher altitude," the statement added.

Eventually, the plane is expected to be able to fly at an altitude of 25,000 metres, an impossible feat using a propulsion-driven aircraft.

Swiss adventurer Raphael Domjan, who is behind the project, aims to take the plane on its first stratospheric flight next year.

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